Disposable curtain



March 25, 1969 p. GRAFF ET AL DISPOSABLE CURTAIN Filed Dec. 26. 1967 FIG.E

FIC-3.3

INVEN TORS. PETER GRAFF PETER soTTcH W ER M W AGENTS United States Patent O 3,434,525 DISPOSABLE CURTAIN Peter Graff, Dusseldorf, and Peter Bottcher, Kleinenbroich, Germany, assignors to Feldmuhle Aktiengesellschaft, Dusseldorf, Germany Filed Dec. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 693,507 Int. Cl. A47h 13/00, 13/14 U.S. Cl. 160-388 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention This invention relates to curtains for windows, doors, and the like, and particularly to disposable curtains.

Curtans which can be replaced at a cost not significantly higher than the cost of Cleaning are used to advantage in hotels and particularly in hospitals. Non-woven fabrics can be manufactured to have the appearance and the hand of conventional woven textiles, but their strength is inferior to that of woven material of equal weight when the cost of the non-woven material must be limited to a minimum. Curtans suspended from horizontally spaced hangers must resist stresses which are concentrated at the points of engagement between the textile material and the hanger, and can be fairly high when the curtains are opened or closed by hand. Non-woven curtan material strong enough to withstand such localized stresses are not inexpensive enough to permit their use in most disposable curtains of conventional construction.

The object of the invention is the provison of a curtain construction which permits the use of very inexpensive non-woven material, yet minimizes the danger of tearing the curtan at the hangers.

Summary o the invention In one of its aspects, the invention resides in a curtan which consists essentially of a sheet of non-woven textile material, an elongated reinforcing member of pliable material secured to an elongated edge portion of the sheet and longitudinally coextensive with the same, and of eyelets which are secured in respective longitudinally spaced openings of the reinforcing member.

The eyelets receive hook-shaped portions of hangers, and distribute the stresses applied by the hangers over enough of the reinforcing member to avoid tearing of the latter. The reinforcing member is secured to the edge portion of the sheet over the entire length of the latter, thereby further distributing stresses which may be generated when the curtain is pulled by hand.

Other features, additional objects, and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will readily lbe appreciated as the same is better understood by reference to the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when considered in connection With the attached drawing.

Brief description of the drawing In the drawing: FIG. 1 shows .a curtan of the invention in fragmentary front elevation;

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FIG. 2 shows the curtan of FIG. 1 in side elevational section of the line II-II; and

FIG. 3 shows a modified curtan in a view corresponding to that of FIG. 2.

Description o the pre erred embodments Referring now to the drawing in detail, and intially to FIG. 1, there is seen the upper port of a curtan whose body is a sheet 1 of non-woven textile material. The upper edge 2 of the sheet 1 is reinforced by a folded strip 3 of stronger non-woven material. Tubular metal rivets 4 pass through the strip 3 near its folded, free edge. The rivets, which form eyelets, are arranged in the strip 3 in a row which is straight when the strip is laid out on a flat surface. The eyelets are arranged in closely juxtaposed pairs which are relatively widely spaced from each other.

A hook-shaped part of a hanger 5 passes through both eyelets 4 of each pair so that the eyelets are juxtaposed even closer, .and the portions of the sheet 1 and of the reinforcing strip 3 between the eyelets of each pair form a fold 6 which is elongated transversely of the direction of elongation of the strip 3. One hook 5 has been omitted from FIG. 1 so as better to show the arrangement of the eyelets 4.

As is better seen in FIG. 2, the strip 3 is approximately U-shaped in cross section. The bight portion 7 of the U- shape and adjacent parts 8 of the leg portions project beyond the edge portion 2 of the sheet 1. The two parts 8 are directly superimposed on each other, and are fastened to each other by the eyelets 4. The free edge portions 9 of the reinforcing strip 3 which, in the view of FIG. 2, constitute parts of the leg portions remote from the bight portion 7, are secured to opposite faces of the sheet 1 by films of adhesive too thin to be visible on the scale of the drawing.

In the .arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2, the Sheet 1 is imperforate, and the openings for the eyelets 4 are provided only in the narrow reinforcing strip 3 which may be made of stronger, and therefore costlier material than the wide sheet 1 without significantly increasi'ng the overall manufacturing cost of the curtain. If so desired, the reinforcing strip may consist of a double layer of the same material as the sheet 1, and such an arrangement is preferred if the sheet carries .a decorative pattern which is desired also to be shown on the strip 3. At least some of the advantages described above are also achieved if the strip 3 consists of a single layer of the same material .as the sheet 1 in that the pressure of each eyelet is distributed over two thicknesses of perforated material whereas the single thickness of the sheet 1 is free from perforations engaged by the hangers 5.

Where a somewhat Stronger material is economically practical and where the non-woven fabric is not subjected to much handling in nor-mal use, as in a valence, the modified construction shown in FIG. 3 is satisfactory.

In the modified curtan of FIG. 3, the edge of the sheet 10, which forms the body of the curtan, is integrally reinforced by a narrow turned-over portion 11 secured to the rem-ainder of the sheet by eyelets 12 and by a longitudinal seam 13. The seam mainly improves the appearance of the curtan but also transmits some stresses 'between the two layers of non-woven fabric which it connects.

The arrangement shown in FIG. 3 requires openings to be provided not only in the reinforcing portion 11, but also in the body of the sheet 10, thereby weakening the sheet.

It will be appreciated that the eyelets are distributed along the folded edge 14 of the sheet 10 in the same manner as is shown in FIG. 1, and are provided with hangers 5, omitted from the showing of FIGS. 2 and 3 for the sake of clarity. Passing each hangei' through two eyelets also contributes to the desired distribution of handling stresses. Typically, the spacing of the eyelets n each pair may be 4 cm., and the spacing of adjacent eyelets of two adjacent pairs may be 8 cm., all spacings being measured along the edge of the Sheet.

What is clamed is:

1. A curt'ain comprising, in combination:

(a) a sheet of non-woven textile material having an elongated edge portion;

(b) an elongated reinforcing member of pliable material secured to said edge portion,

(1) said reinforcing member being an integral portion of said Sheet,

(2) said reinforcing member and said edge portion being longitudinally coextensive and jointly constituting a folded edge of said sheet;

(c) a plurality of eyelet members secured in respective longitudinally spaced openings in said reinforcing member and passing through respective openings in said edge portion aligned with the openings in said rienforcing member; and

(d) a plural'ty of hangers,

(1) each hanger having a hook portion engaging two adjacent eyelets, whereby the portion of said sheet between the two engaged eyelets forms a fold transverse of the elongation of said edge portion and of said reinforcing member.

2. A curtain as set forth in claim 1, wherein said engaged eyelets form a plurality of pairs of engaged eyelets, the pairs being engaged by respective hangers, the spacing of the eyelts of each pair being much smaller than the spacing of the adjacent eyelets of two adjacent pairs, said spacing being measured along said edge portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,007,790 7/1935 Brand -387 2,527,360 10/1950 Hess 1604-348 2,712,354 7/ 1955 Margoles 160-330 2,804,138 8/1957 Nichols 160-348 2,884,05 3 4/ 1959 Truesdale 160-330 FOREIGN PATENTS 167,494 4/ 1956 Australia.

DAVID I. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

PHILIP C. KANNAN, Assistant Examner. 

